On Labor Day, Florida State and SMU face off for only the second time in the history of their programs. SMU will deploy a vaunted and aggressive passing offense against a Florida State defense that, at times, was not aggressive enough in their pass defense against New Mexico State in week zero.
In his final press conference ahead of the ACC opener with SMU on Labor Day, Florida State coach Mike Norvell spoke about the challenge that the Mustangs present from Rhett Lashlee’s coaching, offensive scheme and an overall talent standpoint.
“Rhett (Lashlee) obviously goes back to high school days with coach Malzahn you know playing for, he is in tune with the creativity, the misdirection, the different ways to be able to attack,” said Norvell. “Whether it's running the football, whether it's passing, the multiple tight ends, 10 personnel and just going out there and playing with more white outs. I mean, he's always been able to adapt to whatever he needs to do and definitely going to bring it with a creative aspect of getting the ball to his to his playmakers.”
According to Norvell, the Seminoles had a good week of practice and worked on cleaning things up from their week zero victory over New Mexico State. Norvell welcomes this game and the magnitude of it. Under Lashlee, the Mustangs have averaged nine wins per season, have played for a ACC title, and earned a berth in the College Football Playoff.
“It's going to be like I said, it's a great challenge. It's a game that I love,” said Norvell. “I love coaching in these games where you got a lot of respect for the people that you're going against, but it's one that we're going to be ready for.”
Norvell and the Seminoles better be ready for the offensive onslaught that coach Lashlee and his Mustangs will unleash inside Doak Campbell Stadium on Monday night. Cleaning up the communication issues and missteps in coverage assignments in the Florida State pass defense was paramount in this week of game preparation.
The Mustangs return talented pieces of their dynamic offense from a season ago, a unit that ranked among the top 30 in the FBS in the following categories:
- No. 31 in Total Offense = 416.9 yards/game
- No. 13 in Passing Offense = 283 yards/game
- No. 26 in Scoring Offense = 32.2 points/game
Commanding this offense on the field falls on the shoulders of third-year starting quarterback Kevin Jennings. The significance of Jennings returning for a third season and running Lashlee’s offense cannot be overstated.
In the era of the transfer portal, the continuity that SMU will enjoy at the quarterback position this season is huge, and serves as a prime example for their potential success as the season progresses.
The Florida State defensive backs will be tested early and often on Monday night. Ja’bril Rawls, Quindarrius Jones, and the rest of the secondary crew cannot afford to play soft. They need to be aggressive and play far above their station they displayed against New Mexico State.
Jones did get an interception against the Aggies. Rawls got juked out of his shoes on a deep pass route that resulted in an acrobatic touchdown catch for New Mexico State, but also had five tackles (which was third on the team on Saturday night). Jones only had one tackle and one pass defended.
The Florida State defensive line will also need to make their presence felt, getting in Jennings’ facemask and disrupt his rhythm and timing to limit his impact, and force as many negative plays as possible in the form of sacks and tackles for loss.
Norvell said he “loves coaching in these games.” If his team shows up and is ready to play, and they corrected the issues from week zero, then the Seminoles have a good chance to come away with a victory over a ranked opponent.
If they do not have answers for SMU’s offense, and Lashlee and the Mustangs makes Florida State look silly, then that feeling of love goes right out the window and Norvell walks away broken-hearted.
A loss by Florida State destroys the team’s confidence and that growth that was achieved in fall camp takes a hit. If the Seminoles lose, then the coaching carousel will light up and begin to spin, with Norvell potentially at the head of the line.
